I think the writer's knew nobody wanted to see happily married Jim and Pam go through artificial drama so they went looking for other pairings, none of which really worked. Even Dwight and Angela went off the rails.

The show really fucked Darryl over. He was on a clear arc and during the manager search they essentially shut down all his progress because he doesn't know how to make a resume. It's a weird bit of class dynamics that gets played for a joke to justify Andy as manager and it feels really shitty.

Elba was great, the character was one-note, and they never really dealt with his impact on the Office enough to justify things. He needed to be more than a temporary antagonist for Michael and Jim, I think.

I can see why, but something about that episode just grates on me. The worst random warehouse guys show up, Erin is still in her "Kelly but less interesting" characterization, Dwight claims to love a song so the episode can have a goofy dance scene.

It's where the emotions mostly start feeling unearned, I think.

By the time Sabre shows up, we've dealt with Cafe Disco (one of the show's worst episodes ever), a wasted Idris Elba (though I like the Michael Scott Paper Company arc), the mixed bag of Pam and Jim's wedding (boat stuff is perfect, YouTube video parody ceremony is a bleeding lesion), Michael's relationship with Pam's…

I actually really like Holly as a character, but you can tell they had no idea what they wanted her to be yet during her first appearance. And she's the first in a long line of characters added later that never quite gel even if they're great on their own (Erin, Gabe).

Yeah, the extended episodes plus the writer's strike set that season up for failure. There's great stuff in it but the seams are showing.

Jim should have been the manager. Flirting with Jim becoming Michael was one of the most brilliant turns the show hinted at and then abandoned.

Four is where the cracks first start to show. I can't decide if making Ryan Michael's boss or introducing Holly is the exact moment where the fall begins, but it's one of those two.

I can't help but love a movie where everybody involved is clearly having a blast.

Twelve felt like everybody involved was having the time of their life. It's on the opposite end of some spectrum where Grown-Ups marks the other extreme.

There has not been a single mention of that giant pile of banana peels by Schmidt's feet and I am disappointed in everybody. Best joke of the episode.

Exactly. The idea of Annie explaining basic Abed to Britta after 6 years wasn't meant to be taken very seriously.

Thank you. The whole point of that statement was that Jessa is absolutely being a manipulative asshole by asking Adam for a lifeline, even if she really, really does need him as a friend. I've known plenty of people who were manipulative as fuck, but completely earnest in their actions and statements. It's why turning…

She challenges DeVito in her willingness to go depraved and disgusting, which is a fucking accomplishment. The other characters all have their moments, but Kaitlin Olson is never half-assing things as Dee. She's a treasure. A filthy, wretched, super talented treasure.

It's not a young monster! It's literally an unborn creature. That is important.

I agree that the statement is unclear, but I really don't see how you could ignore this element altogether, or assume it's something being forced into the story by outsiders. The question of the episode, thematics and real world aside, is whether to abort an alien creature to save humanity. That's the heart of the…

The episode goes out of the way to have all the relevant decision makers be women. It literally has a button with big capital ABORT written on it. It is about weighing the life of an unborn creature versus the potential damage and disaster it might cause.

Bran's story was always a drag though, especially in book 3. Things don't get interesting for him until he's way up North.